


Steeped Tea

by LovingPillow



Category: Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime
Genre: Alternate Universe, Complete, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2019-03-13 18:58:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13576905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovingPillow/pseuds/LovingPillow
Summary: [Auler & Rein] She met her match in one of the oldest surviving independent bookshops in Dublin. The Winding Stair Bookshop had a wide selection of books, and as a bibliophile it was her dream-come-true when she finally made her way inside. She could just watch the world go by while sipping tea and reading to her heart's content.





	Steeped Tea

The tea soothed her as her mind slipped into the book she was reading, automatically falling into a sweet silence that could have lasted ages, had it not been for the quiet creaks sounding the door opening. Shaken from her novel, she looked up, curiosity getting the better of her, and silently observed from her seat by the window as an unknown man walked into the shop.

His eyes lit up as his lips parted in awe, and the corners of her lips lifted as she recalled how it felt when she stepped into The Winding Stair Bookshop. Surrounded by the sight and smell of books... To this day, it was a wonder how she managed to keep herself from stumbling all over the place, eagerly wanting to explore the entire shop.

As her recollection of that day faded, the man snapped out of his daze, and she resumed reading. At least, that was what she initially planned on doing...before curiosity took over. In her peripheral vision, she noticed the chair across from her inch out of sight, so when she lowered her novel to get a better look of the scooting chair, she was surprised to see the man from earlier seat himself with a sheepish smile. In that smile, there was a quiet apology, further proven when he gently set his cuppa tea down in front of him, rather than setting it down with a mild curse (trust her on that one, it happened once, and she really didn't want to relive that far from pleasant encounter).

Shortly after he set his notebook down, she was lulled into the wonders of her novel (which she had remembered because she liked the texture of the book's spine, it just felt nice against her thumb). A third way into the novel, her ears picked up sound. Upon lowering her book, she felt her head dip towards the right, tilting towards the left; in direct line of sight towards the man sitting across from her. "Sorry?" she called out in question, and though it wasn't a valid question given the circumstances, it served her purpose in asking him to repeat himself.

When he did repeat his words, she felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. He'd been introducing himself, and she didn't have the audacity to hear him, thus, presenting herself as a rude stranger, although she really couldn't help it, she'd been absorbed in the book she was reading, so she wouldn't have heard him had her ears not picked up on his voice. Not to mention, she normally didn't hold conversations with strangers, so it was pretty out-of-place for her to sit here and hold a conversation for longer than five seconds.

 _What are we talking about now?_ she asked herself, and falling back into their conversation, she realized that they'd been talking about the book grasped between her fingers. All too soon, however, the conversation dropped (reason being so she could return to finishing the book, but also so he could return to whatever he'd been doing with his notebook; _writing, perhaps?_ )

As the silence steadily increased in volume, unconventional music began to float to their ears. Whether it be the tip-tapping of his pencil, or the page turning between her fingers, they were creating a melody that comfortably fit the silence surrounding them. There was no need for small talk now that they were in their own worlds.

Nice as it was being left to their own doings, the silence eventually broke with the resounding snap of a book being shut.

Smiling in content, she decided that while she would've loved continuing the journey alongside the characters, all journeys came to an end, and though it ended for her, that didn't mean the journey ended for the characters in the book. She had been immersed in the tale, and much as she would love to reread it that very second, she would hold off on it; read it again at a later date, maybe even buy her own copy if there was one that wasn't on display (when she first picked out the book, the bookshop owner told her that it wasn't for sale, but if she came back at a later date, they might have more in stock, ones that would be available for purchase).

As she was humming beneath her breath while still being immersed in the tale, even after she closed the book, the man sitting across from her was slowly coming to a stop in his scribbling. The sudden silence caused her to look up at him, and he was sitting there, staring at her. With his expressive eyes, he questioned how she found the book.

With flushed cheeks and a bright smile, she tried summarizing the book without revealing anything that wasn't already on the back of the book, because she didn't know if he appreciated spoilers or not, so she wouldn't spoil it for him. This was in the very case he wanted to read it, but had this thing where knowing exactly what happened in the later parts of the book would deter him from reading it (she knew some people like that, so it wasn't easy introducing them to certain books she really liked, without giving anything away so that they'd still be interested in it).

When his lips parted in immeasurable joy, something that just happened so suddenly without a hide nor hair of it possibly happening, she found herself speechless and just staring. It wasn't until her eyes started becoming irritated that she realized she'd been staring for a good full minute, and she quickly lowered her gaze while blinking down at the piece of paper she'd seen his pencil scrawl across. Tilting her head in curiosity, she got a glimpse of what seemed to be a story, but before she could start reading, the words disappeared from view.

He had closed his notebook with flushed cheeks, but before he would hear an apology from her, he handed his notebook over. He wasn't angry, just...embarrassed. After all, as much as he wanted others to read his stories, it still felt...weird, in a way...knowing they were reading it.

Gulping, she licked her lips and with a nervous smile, accepted the notebook with a steady beating of her heart.

Silence spread once more as she silently opened to the page he bookmarked for her, and he watched with bated breath as she immersed herself into his world, while occasionally remembering to breathe and take slow sips of his tea.

Gently biting the inside of her cheek, her fascination of the tale steadily grew as the world he envisioned on paper came to life with his writing. It was an interesting story, certainly, and she was cheering for the main character, a man who defied gender roles by enjoying things society appropriated for women. While growing up, many teased and bullied him for his utter lack of masculinity, but he didn't take it to heart because he had a cousin who would defend him and his interests. After all, she didn't mind her cousin playing with toys designed for girls, baking crisp sweets, scrumptious desserts, knowing how to mend torn up clothes and such, and there was no one who went unscathed when they made fun of him, because she would be there to protect him even if he didn't need it (and he did need the help, because people would gang up on him if he tried defending himself without her by his side). She really liked it, even if the tale focused on the warm feelings of family, and standing up against discriminatory behaviour. It was a definite page turner, and she was disappointed when she reached the end of his writing. It didn't seem like he was done writing though, so she returned the notebook in hopes that he would finish the novel.

As if reading her mind, his lips shifted in an upwards motion. There were no words spoken, but he appreciated her interest in his writing.

It seemed so sudden, but something just clicked between them. Before, they were strangers who met in a bookshop and had small talk, but after all that occurred between them, they were friends. It wasn't an outright declaration of friendship, but it was one of those things that you just knew, without ever putting a finger to.

With her own lips lifting into a smile, she leant down to collect her cup of tea, and despite it having grown cold, grasped it with steady hands, as though she could feel the warmth with how tight she was gripping the tea cup. Silently, she wondered just why his writing felt familiar. Of course, a lot of styles of writing were familiar, but she noticed that each person had their own flair to their stories, and call her weird, but she certainly felt like she read his writing before, even when she just read it for the first time.

Eyes widening a notch, she felt her breath hitch as her eyes snapped to the book laid beside her tea. Quickly looking up, her gaze caught onto his knowing smile, and she quickly glanced down, gaze sweeping across the book for answers. At that point, her eyes caught onto the cursive letterings of his name, and she felt her ears heat in embarrassment. She only snapped out of her stupor when she heard chuckling, and looked away from him while biting the inside of her cheeks. Embarrassment did not fade easily, but silence began to settle in as the sound of his chuckling died down, and she felt herself calm down.

Without another word, without another glance, they resumed their activities. Spurred on by her embarrassing moment earlier, she left in search of another novel to read, preferably one that would keep her attention riveted and not distracted by any means whatsoever. On the other hand, he stayed in his seat, in search of words to fill his novel with. They had both come to an understanding that it was best to distract themselves with whatever they were doing so that they could pass the hours as smoothly as possible, without little (ideally, no more) embarrassing episodes.

At the end of the day, though, she met her match in one of the oldest surviving independent bookshops in Dublin. The Winding Stair Bookshop had a wide selection of books, and as a bibliophile it was her dream-come-true when she finally made her way inside. She could just watch the world go by while sipping tea and reading to her heart's content.

Her trip to Dublin was coming to an end, but she could honestly say that she would find time in her schedule to visit for a much longer period of time, if only to browse for more books and sit by the window with him while he worked on his books.


End file.
